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Elementary students take road safety into their own hands

After the tragic death of Georgia Walsh and a surge in Leaside traffic, three elementary school students have taken road safety into their own hands.

Oliver Wong, Arnav Shah and Quinlan Birmingham, students at Northlea Elementary and Middle School, created Crosswalk Company, stocking bright orange flags that residents can carry when crossing the street at busy intersections.

Quinlan Birmingham, left, and Oliver Wong and are two of three elementary school students who introduced flags in their neighbourhood to increase road safety. (Julien Gignac / Toronto Star)

“We created a simple flag system,” said Shah, 11, of the design, primarily devised to keep children safe, although adults have been seen using the flags, too, he added. “What happens is when a pedestrian comes to cross, they look both ways, the regular stuff, maintaining eye contact with the drivers, and then they put the flag up and walk across. Not only does this make them more visible, but makes them (the drivers) more aware of the problem at hand.”

“You have cars coming through with the explicit purpose of getting across as quickly as possible,” he said. “These boys walk to school everyday and they recognized that this was a problem that needed some solutions,” Wong said. “They’ve really taken ownership of this. They have their own website, their own email address. The only thing we do as parents is host the bi-weekly meeting at one of our houses after school and just give them snacks.”

Councillor Jon Burnside said the legality of the project falls into a grey zone.

“Basically, as long as no one complains, it’s fine,” he said. “It’s a great initiative. (The students) are responding to a need in the community, although it’s also a sad commentary on the state of our roads and the way people drive. I’ll say some adults could take some cues from the kids’ creativity.”

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To address an uptick in traffic in the area, he said he was part of the push to legislate photo radar. But, he clarified, the problem is not just about speed.

“The level of enforcement, and officers dedicated to traffic enforcement, has gone way down and I think that, correspondingly, poor driving habits have proportionally gone up,” Burnside said. “We have to find the resources for more traffic enforcement,” adding that he established a traffic committee, which has come back with requests to block off, or put cul-de-sacs, at entry points along Bayview Ave.

Dilanee Ramanayake walks with her four year old daughter Ila near Northlea Elementary and Middle School. (Rene Johnston/Toronto Star)

Construction on Eglinton Ave. E. will be completed at the end of 2021, he said.

The trio have collected data about their project to ascertain how often it’s being used. During the summer, the use rate was at 16 per cent, said Birmingham, 12, “ which we were actually pretty happy with because we didn’t have any expectations.”

However, when students returned to school, he continued, the rate bumped to 67 per cent.

There are six intersections in Leaside with the flags, then another near Blythwood Rd., the students said.

The project was hatched last summer at a week-long camp at the University of Toronto that required a business proposal. It’s been invested in from community members, the students said, including realtor Patrick Rocca.

“We’re really proud of their thoughtfullness, their curiosity, their poise,” said Barbara Sandler, principal at Northlea. “They’ve joined our safety committee. We want kids to be able to walk to school safely, ride their bikes safely. (The students) are helping with that. They’re increasing awareness.”

From left, Oliver Wong, Arnav Shah and Quinlan Birmingham are three elementary school students who introduced flags in their neighbourhood to increase road safety. (Julian Gignac/Toronto Star)

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